The Mysterious Sword Of Goujian - Ancient China
Vložit
- čas přidán 20. 11. 2017
- History, metallurgy and archaeology behind the sword of Goujian, one of the most beautiful and incredible swords ever created.
A sword is a long bladed weapon intended for slashing or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration. A sword consists of a long blade attached to a hilt. The blade can be straight or curved. Thrusting swords have a pointed tip on the blade, and tend to be straighter; slashing swords have sharpened cutting edge on one or both sides of the blade, and are more likely to be curved. Many swords are designed for both thrusting and slashing.
Historically, the sword developed in the Bronze Age, evolving from the dagger; the earliest specimens date to about 1600 BC. The later Iron Age sword remained fairly short and without a crossguard. The spatha, as it developed in the Late Roman army, became the predecessor of the European sword of the Middle Ages, at first adopted as the Migration period sword, and only in the High Middle Ages, developed into the classical arming sword with crossguard. The word sword continues the Old English, sweord.
During the Middle Ages sword technology improved, and the sword became a very advanced weapon. It was frequently used by men in battle, particularly during an attack. The spatha type remained popular throughout the Migration period and well into the Middle Ages. Vendel Age spathas were decorated with Germanic artwork (not unlike the Germanic bracteates fashioned after Roman coins). The Viking Age saw again a more standardized production, but the basic design remained indebted to the spatha.
Around the 10th century, the use of properly quenched hardened and tempered steel started to become much more common than in previous periods. The Frankish 'Ulfberht' blades (the name of the maker inlaid in the blade) were of particularly consistent high quality. Charles the Bald tried to prohibit the export of these swords, as they were used by Vikings in raids against the Franks.
Wootz steel which is also known as Damascus steel was a unique and highly prized steel developed on the Indian subcontinent as early as the 5th century BC. Its properties were unique due to the special smelting and reworking of the steel creating networks of iron carbides described as a globular cementite in a matrix of pearlite. The use of Damascus steel in swords became extremely popular in the 16th and 17th centuries.
It was only from the 11th century that Norman swords began to develop the crossguard (quillons). During the Crusades of the 12th to 13th century, this cruciform type of arming sword remained essentially stable, with variations mainly concerning the shape of the pommel. These swords were designed as cutting weapons, although effective points were becoming common to counter improvements in armour, especially the 14th-century change from mail to plate armour.
It was during the 14th century, with the growing use of more advanced armour, that the hand and a half sword, also known as a "bastard sword", came into being. It had an extended grip that meant it could be used with either one or two hands. Though these swords did not provide a full two-hand grip they allowed their wielders to hold a shield or parrying dagger in their off hand, or to use it as a two-handed sword for a more powerful blow. The names given to many swords in mythology, literature, and history reflected the high prestige of the weapon and the wealth of the owner.
Follow me on my social networks:
/ themetatron
/ metatron_youtube
Metatron-153...
/ puremetatron
/ realmetatron
Royalty free music by Epidemic Sound:
intro ES_Knights Templar 1 - Johannes Bornlöf
intro 2 ES_Medieval Adventure 01 - Johannes Bornlöf
outro ES_Knights Templar 2 - Johannes Bornlöf
Check out the facebook page of the photographer who works with me, he has lots of fantastic pictures
amedeo.capor...
and his instagram
amedeo.capor...
Check out my friend Salvo's channel
/ @littlesalvo000
To add to the story, the smith who created the sword actually made two blades. The second was a spear crafted for Goujian’s enemy, and that spearhead has also survived to the modern day (albeit in far worse condition). This means that the smith was playing both sides, making masterfully crafted weapons for two warring kings.
According to the inscription the sword was made by Goujian
The same smith was also credited with the creation of 5 other legendary blades, and three blades/weapons for the Yue dynasty including Sword of Goujian. So I think we may need to take the swords creation with a grain or two of salt.
The smith sounds like the US government arming both sides.
@@rhythmoutside The sword smith is a legendary craftsman, he take no sides in any conflict, he just focus on his craft... So he will craft to order no matter who orders it, and he is also protected by all sides.
Or it just meant that he's a master swordsmith and everyone from every side respected him and wanted his swords.
I mean it's just one sword made by one man, and ceremonial one at that. It's not some secret all powerful weapon which will change the military balance of any side.
How fitting that the blade belonged to a king known for perseverance in times of hardship, considering its condition after so long.
I would not say so. Many ceremonial weapons were actually used - in fact, they were often worn as decoration, but quite a few of them have tasted blood - this is the only weapon you have on your person in public, and if you are attacked, this is your last defense, apart from your men.
I saw quite a beautiful mace in polish Muzeum Narodowy in Krakow. Gold-incrusted flanged mace, with incrustations erased on the handle, two flanges bent and scarred shaft bearing quite a few blade marks. When you look at the thing, it sends shivers down your spine - because you know it was used. You see, that it has tested quite a few skulls, before ending up in museum.
czcams.com/video/PD6UWab8U6w/video.html here
Louis Vitton ' s sword ?
Ah...Yes.... it looks like he must have been enduring tremendous hardships, living in a time filled with commissions for such expensive and ostentatious swords......
Was listening to a little more about the chap and the description given here misses the core of that history - the owner of this sword was enslaved by a neighbour, his land made a vassal. He kissed arse for 3 years - including tasting the excrement of his captor whilst pretending to diagnosose him when ill to show his willingness to humiliate himself for his lord. He was then allowed to return to govern his own lands.
Once home he slept on sticks and tasted gall to remind himself of his prior humiliation and motivate himself to take revenge. Another three years later, after an incredible series of covert tactics to undermine the opposition including borrowing grain one year claiming a drought and returning boiled grain to them the next... so their crops would fail.
...He then conquered his prior captor.
...Aye, this guy missed all the substance of that. ...So this sword may in fact have been made with a very specific throat in mind :-D
The important thing is that the owner of this sword is King Goujian of Yue. His revenge and war against Wu perfectly interpreted Sun Tzu's art of war. The Kingdom of Yue was once completely defeated by the Kingdom of Wu. King Wu made Goujian eat shit and made him a slave. Goujian endured the pain and pleased King Wu. Finally, King Wu released him, leaving him a small area. Gou Jian realized that he could use the game between neighboring Chu and Wu to develop himself, so Gou Jian decided to re-emerge through commercial trade and other means. In the end, Goujian succeeded in revenge, and completely eliminated Wu. Of course, the story may end here. In fact, this is just Chu's strategy. Although the Yue country succeeded in revenge, because of the war, the Yue country consumed a lot and was finally controlled by the Chu country and then perished. This is why this sword was discovered in the territory of Chu State.
Ironic as Sun Zi is from Wu, possibly campaigning against King Goujian himself.
Who.. me?
Technically Yue state didn’t completely disappear, some the Yue people travel south and become the Vietnamese people of today.
IIRC Goujian ate Wu's shit as part of a medical diagnosis to win Wu's trust. None of Wu's confidants would do so when Wu was suffering.
Goujian hated Wu enough to endure humiliation just to destroy Wu later.
Chu was a formidable kingdom. Props to Yue for his patience, humility, and determination.
You took the time to learn Mandarin and construct an eloquent introduction. Respect, friend, for ideas are bulletproof and words are the currency of ideas - the sharpest of tongues and the truest of wits.
And english isnt his first language either... Quality man💯
Rare dish
All that time to learn a new language, then practically reads wiki word for word lol...
He spoke mandarin, using terms better than some of my Chinese friends.
Ancient people when the sword was first invented:
"What? This is shorter than a spear and takes way more metal to make! This will never catch on!"
Inventing sword was probably more like:
- Hey man! What's up?
- Look at my new knife!
- Why the f*ck is it so long and big?!
- I dunno... I looks cool.
It seems to me that the iterative history of weaponcrafting always goes from short to long. Sometimes reverting as it shifts materials.
First you have the rock, then you have the club, the hammer, the axe which is another refinement on the hammer and then someone figures out that a sharp pointy stick is much safer to use and you get the spear, then someone figures out that you can make little spears that take less space to use and the bow is invented, and so on, and so forth...
Nerobyrne huh started with a long blade with no point just a flat sheet metal for hacking it was more a machete axe yet lengthened for reach in combat as when a spear or spear point breaks another weapon is needed in order to complete the task this was usually a club or a blade as metal working got better the sheet blade got longer. Spears and swords have been used in combat as recent afganistan war on terror operation new dawn. This use was in combined arms with semi automatic rifles. And there was a rumor that a marine brought his nco sword with him and had it stashed on the dash of his vehicle claiming he would get a kill with it rumor varies from one to three people met there end with his nco sword. As he carried the sword on his belt that day or that he left from the vehicle with it drawn that the enemy did not see him coming and that the fight was close quarters in a storage of some kind some say that the men were wounded yet still fighting and he dispatched one with the sword and the two surrendered. We do know that there definitely was nco swords around but again there just rumors.
Edgewalker001 sorry but there's no evidence for clubs before the Neolithic, but there are spears that are 300k years old.
Hunting weapons became tinier and tinier, from Spears, to atlatls and bow and Arrow. So even if your theory works for medieval weapons, or doesn't Work as an Universal. Sorry mate ;)
OzzyCrescat look into Paleolithic wrapped clubs and hard pitch resin tipped spears also see the Aztec obsidian swords just for fun.
The hardened pitch resin is the key to knowing what came before I'd say a bone club would not be unheard of a wrapped club may be near the end of the Paleolithic. But the people of this period would have close conflict and need tools for the encounter. And a club fits perfectly. For available resources even before the invention of pitch resin. Homo habili would have knapped stone differently but wooden tools would not be out of reach they though would not survive the passage of time in any great number. A club can be formed naturally from almost any sapling. I don't think homo hablis would have passed up a freebie either.
i've seen this sword in a belgian exhibit about terracotta warriors..this sword is 2000 years if not more and still looks flawless..i didn't blink for 10min i was awestruck..
That exhibit passed through my city in the US. Very unique experience.
Must have been an other sword since this one is not allowed to leave China. It used to be on an exhibition in Singapore in the 90's and then it got damaged leaving a crack in the sword. There was massive outrage about it.
@@SilverBlackBird1989 Aw. Must've been a historical reproduction, or a different sword with a similar background. Kind of disappointing to hear, but cool to know. Thank you
@@SilverBlackBird1989 what!
What you see is not this one. This sword is a national treasure and is not allowed to leave the country. It may be a sword at the same time. At the same time, the sword was unearthed a lot. This is the most complete preservation, and the Jianfeng can easily cut the paper. 2500 years of non-corruption
I’ve actually seen this sword in person at an exhibit in Hong Kong a few years ago, and you could see the pattern there, and it gleamed under the museum’s lights, no it was not the reflection of lights on the glass.
Wow at this point this sword is an heirloom of not just China, but all humanity. What an amazing object!
Don't say that to loud the British may take it away
@@SG-tx1fz For safekeeping, of course.
Likes European and Asian swords. He's biswordsual.
He's sexually identify as biswordsual. Everytime he post videos, he will be discriminated by katana-weebs and couch-knights, demanding him to "love" only either katana or sword. Every night he'll cry due to the pressure from his peers. But now he is a proud biswordsual, soon he'll undergo a surgery that make his body into Katana-sword or whatever the name is, you know it. He will prove to his haters that no one can judge or change his identity.
Also there are the Aztec obsidian blades whose name escapes me.
Do you mean that he dual wields😉
*dual shield
Inquisitor Thomas Macuahuitl
It's amazing how it has a simple, practical design but amazing craftsmanship and art. I wish modern artists were more inspired by that when designing medieval fantasy weapons.
my fav has become Erunnam from lotro, a simple swiss army style can opener
@Vlnxd Roa most fantasy genres are focused on the medieval period, so I think it's accurate.
@Vlnxd Roa the setting _looks_ medieval, but often the weapons, equipment, and whatnot aren't.
That how it be in the fantasy genre.
Edit: For example, the prevalence of iron or copper swords as noob weapons, for example. And you should know by know iron/copper is no material meant for swords.
European were crude metal workers up until the 17th century-- then they copied designs from Japan, China and Korea up to the present. Have you looked at late model Mercedes and BMW-- most are shaped like Honda Civics from early 2000s.
I wonder how many man hours went into making that sword
As a professional blacksmith, bladesmith and metal sculpture artist I am sooooo glad someone finally addressed all this. Ever since I first read about this sword, as impressive as it is all of the hype about its mysterious anti aging and sharpness properties seemed quite easily explained to me. I've always wondered why no one addressed it and laid it out. Great video
I am more impressed by the usage of different alloys used to make the artistic patterns. That would be quite expensive even now.
As a professional blacksmith, make one yourself and show it to us.
Blacksmiths don't work in bronze but nice try. @@TheDAT9
I wonder if its just another fake
It is unbelievably impressive work. That is certain. but it wouldn't be impossible by any means to achieve today. expensive? well that is relative. @@adamrak7560
What an amazing sword, already it was one of the most beautiful swords I’ve seen, but the fact it’s 2 and a half millennia old? It blows me away, that it’s condition had stayed so preserved in its scabbard is a testament of the masterpiece that is this blade. I wonder just how much it would cost to commission a reproduction
A few thousand dollars for an almost identical replica. Not hard by today’s standards bc we aren’t talking about an elite Katana or Damascus steel. For copper, and engineering at that time it’s remarkable
Ancient technology is greatly underestimated in my opinion by a lot of modern day people. Our ancestors were just as smart as we are today. Events like this may teach us to look more into the ancient world as we see the present day. Some aspects of the human experience do not change with time. Great video Metatron and keep up the wonderful work. 🎩
I remember a documentary(nationa geographic I believe) about ancient chineese river flotillas and their massive floating castles. Damn. That was an impressive thing to watch.
@gideon its scientifical fact that we cannot copy the craftsmanship of the oldest swords that were found (i.e. gladius) there exists peices of this weapon that is not know how they have produced this quality of steel/iron whatsoever..
No, we can build swords or any other metallic objects from any time period in history that we have examples of.
We can either use exact methods that were used, if we have records of the process, or near enough to achieve the same results as any historical piece.
We can also build replicas that far exceed quality, strength, sharpness etc of any sword in history with modern techniques. This is just a popular myth that people like to spread online, for example that Japanese sword smiths built "better" swords from the 15th 18th century than we can make today, which by any measurable standards is utterly untrue. We have access to better quality steel, better quality control and a deeper understanding of molecular structure of metallic objects.
That said, the artisan quality may match modern craftsman, but that is not technology, but craftsmanship.
NatGeo has a great doc on building the Ulfberht sword using methods of the time, then testing the current build using modem metallurgical standards.
czcams.com/video/fTlmrAh1oHI/video.html
Well, I think you have barely scratched the surface of the truth of ancient high technology. Atlantis maybe.
@@ghostdogworks We still haven't made true Damascus or Wootz Steel.
The sword looks like Louis Vuitton made it.
what would that flag look like?
Gost731 lol hahah
For sure there's an LV serial number there somewhere.
Or LV copying it
Guess the designer saw the image of the sword before.
I went to the Hubei museum, saw the blade, but didn't realize it was such an important piece. Cheers!
As a testament to how well bronze lasts when exposed to the elements, bronze age celtic swords that predate the Romans in the British Islands regularly turn up in peoples' yards and when farmers till fields.
What's kind of cool is there's a guy in Wales who has a little bed & breakfast inn with a small smith's shop on the land...he does workshops where you can come and sleep at his place, and during the day cast and finish a bronze sword in his shop. Looks like a lot of fun.
Your Chinese is really spot on, man
Thank you!
I agree, although he speaks it a bit slowly, esp. when compared to his Japanese. Slow or not though, it's far better than my Mandarin and I rasied in a Mandarin speaking family.
I'm Chinese and you speak it better than me
Metatron is speaking Mandarin in Northern Ascent (Like Beijing), which is a difficult ascent to acquire if you don't personally live there or watch a lot of Beijing based channels. The people from Northern China may critic your pitch aren't high enough when speaking Mandarin.
I personally think Southern China Mandarin ascent is much easier to acquire since it doesn't emphasis on pitch and normally its much more audibly clearer when speaking in this ascent. It's like Californian Ascent, most people normally have no problem listen to these ascent..
momo lolo, try teaching language Chinese or Mandarin to us Irish or Scots and imagine how do our accents sound to you. Have you ever heard of any Mandarin spoken with European accents?
Chinese bronze swords have always fascinated me because of their detail and craftsmanship. You can tell from looking at them that for the artisans and craftsmen who made them it was a labour of love.
This was a particularly high status sword. Don't get me wrong, China has always had excellent metallurgy but this particular example shouldn't be taken as a standard.
Love doesn’t make a quality sword; skill and experience are more important, though a bit of care also helps.
This was a sword made for a king. The watch you and I wear will be much less fancy and expensive than the presidents. The difference between a Honda and 1 of a kind Ferrari.
岂止是爱。 以身融剑，必成绝世好剑。not just like .The craftsman 's wife jumped into The furnace. use her blood.,Casting the sword. Artisans name is gan jiang. His wife's name is mo ye.
this sword was made by ancient people in Southern China they're not han chinese.
The Sword of Goujian is to my mind, easily the most beautiful blade ever made.
Agreed
Dude, I'm jealous of your Chinese. As someone who's spent a lot of time in China and has struggled to pick up the language, you enunciate it so clearly and precisely that I actually have a chance at distinguishing the tones and replicating it. You give me hope, lol.
+5 to durability and sharpness.
they should use it in some rpg
Amazing the years you can go by with a simple +5 XD
Or "indestructible" affix
9,999,999 durability
*15%dexitirity
*15%agility
*15%strength
*15%integrity
special.
*50%less fire damage surrounding enemies
*50%fire damage to surrounding enemies
*50%less magic damage surrounding enemies.
*50%damage on mob airbourn attact
*50%indirect attact of enemies during evasion.
*+5 secondes paralisys on enemy when mana is 50%
*50% move speed.
*50% attact speed.
*50% CD reduction.
*50% more less usage of mana.
*50% armor.
*+200 defence
Set...
2set +200 attact
3set +300 fire damage
4set +1000 mana
5set +1000 strength....
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
You are a classic example of Italian excellence.
What are Italians excellent at? Pasta, Olive oil… good stuff but y’all haven’t done much as a country besides fall in with the Jew killers and get your ass kicked
The Bird-Bug Script is so beautiful it almost disappoints me that it isn't used in these modern days. If it were, I might even be compelled to learn the script and spoken language myself. As it is, I doubt it would be of much use to do so, as I doubt it is commonly used these days.
Fantastic video by the way. Keep up the great work.
Fascinating subject. Thanks for your commentary.
Now i see what inspired the dwarven sword of skyrim
it does look alot like the Dwemer swords in Elder Scrolls games now that you mention it
SI
This is an awesome video!
Thank you very much Thrand!
The quality of your videos, the content, and "family-friendly" presentation is great. Enough that these could be used for home schooling.
For MGTOW reading this, the most important thing you can do, if you raise no offspring or family, is to become a mentor or "big brother" to a disadvantaged boy. So, don't think my comment leaves you out, show these videos to your little brother or mentees.
Indeed it is Thrand.
@@metatronyt He definitely speaks of the truth. The video is amazing and interesting. Keep up the good work Raffaello.
From Daniel Fudała from Poland.
New to the channel, but your detail and research is amazing. I wish we had this kind of thing on TV still.
Also love you language skills. Happy to be a new subscriber. Keep up the good work!
Finally and thank you so much for the video! Very precise and well documented. ;)
This is some great material for fantasy writers right here.
What's cool is that the sword is living proof of a legend
For sure. There's is not enough magical swords fantasy.
It's crazy how weapons in the past were made in such a way like they were made by gods.
Quality
The Nephilim showed man how to make such weapons of death & destruction...
You don't see the ones that didn't last.
@@ForeverBlastin based on the assumption that the nephilim were real
They were made with the intelligence of “gods” the information handed down from higher entities, just like Tesla or jack parsons
I had the honour to see it in person when it was loan to my country (where an accident caused a fine crack to the sword, and it was thus permanently banned for overseas loan). truly amazing and beautiful sword. Goujian's arch nemesis, King Fuchai of Wu's spear head (made of jade) was also on exhibit then.
I just found this channel for no reason at all. And after viewing the content, I had to subscribe.
Amazingly well done. I'm looking forward to going through all of your Playlists on historical weapons and armor. Once more,
Extremely well done.
I'm just wondering if the swords on the wall behind you, are your own personal collection ?
Ancient China is truely amazing
That sword is really huge and beautiful
And very mysterious
@Chen Nan Yeah, in a good and bad way
I know almost nothing about Asian& Indias history.
Time to change that, but it’s way more difficult if you don’t understand a word of the language and everything sounds similar.🙈
You know who Goujian was?
You have to be the coolest teacher ever. One would be lucky to study under someone who is as interesting and as learned as yourself.
Thank you very much for your kind words friend! I still remember the first time you commented on a video of mine, I think I had under 100 subs! Incredible, it seams like yesterday.
It only makes sense that you have mass subs now, your content has become more and more fascinating with every release. I had been offline for a few years only to come back to your greatly expanded channel, I have much catching up to do! Every video is a pleasure to watch, and I learn something every time. Thanks for your continued excellent content!
Metatron senpai sifu
He reads from Wikipedia
You have done justice to this video by giving the most clear and comprehensive description of a piece of Chinese history, better than anywhere else on the Internet. You've earned yourself a subscriber.
By the way, your Chinese is very good for a foreigner.
So glad I’ve stumbled on your vids. Very informative and entertaining!
When it comes to far eastern blades, I really prefer the chinese swords to the japanese.
Memento Mori not fair the Japanese were seriously want for quality metal which is why the built the compromise Katana. (I do agree with you of course but I did want to include that caveats).
Well China IS the place you think of when you think martial arts so it's no surprise that they would have awesome swords.
Wierdest one I've seen was that sun ring whatever you call it sword
the Chinese had to actually win wars, so of course their weapons would be better ^.^
I really loved the movie Hero, it had some really great scenes in it (if you ignore the obviously unrealistic moves they do) and the quality was amazing!
You get a really good look at all the cool weapons.
Japanese swords are based on Chinese ones afterall.
John-Paul Silke It has more to do with traditionalism than lack of resources, Japan is a country that preserved extremely well their traditions even until now, traditions that in great part came from ancient China, to the point that one could argue that modern Japan is closer to 7th century China than modern China, there are lots of old Chinese traditions that today survive in Japan while in China they just were abandoned (matcha like tea, summo like wrestling, Geisha like make up, kimono like clothings, music, etc), swords are just the same, they had a design they liked and never changed it too much.
THANK YOU SO MUCH METATRON. I was going to research this weapon and you answered all my questions in one video. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Very impressive video on many levels. Thanks for the knowledge and the obvious time you put into gaining it.
i'm impressed by his chinese pronounciations, he put lots of efforts into it, thumbs up!
Thank you!
This sword is a masterpiece, i'm amazed indeed!
Really fitting weapon for a king too
Dondolini94 Man this sword is from the same period as Sun Zu. It even belongs to the kingdom of wu, the very kingdom Sun Zu faught for!
So when it says it's made by him, does that mean the king literally made it himself or that he had it commissioned?
several swords were found to be made for him specifically, and he commissioned it.
I would like to see a true replica of the sword - also known as the Chun Jun sword - made, right down to the patterned bronze and mettalurgical variations.
Once again, you've done an incredible job with your content! Cheers!
Instant Like & Subscribe
here brother.
Keep curating those historical insights!
I look forward to catching up.
Kuddos to your editing approach,
choices, articulation and aesthetic.
I am gobsmacked. You are an amazing human being with a wonderful brain. So glad I am watching all of your works. Thank you sincerely.
I love it when someone doesn’t completely butcher mandarin pronunciation.
DanQZ why i know many mandarin speakers who butcher English but it’s no bother.
Who cares you sinoboo.
@@CanadianCCP haha heard tons about koreaboos and ofc weeaboos, didn't know sinoboo was a thing
@@CanadianCCP dude I’m literally Chinese hahahahahaa
@@DanQZ main land chinese or taiwan chinese, and also, han mandarin speaker or another group? because saying ''i am chinese'' is just as helpful as saying ''i am latin american''
Man that Chinese was real good.
Thanks :D
It truly was
Nah, 2 billion people are speaking that, so can't be difficult.
( just joking)
Harry Fishnuts no need
*mandarin
Outstanding research you’ve done and shared for free with us Sir!
Thank you
That is truly amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Chinese subscriber here. Thank you for spreading the sculptural meme :P
A beautiful sword and piece of craftsmanship. I can only wonder about the skills the creator had to use to craft it.
This must surely be the most spectacular archeological find in the history of edged weaponry.
Um, they put it in the sheath with a thin layer of oil, thus keeping it perfectly preserved.
Do you have a source for this? Just wondering why the video wouldn't have mentioned it if it was a thing that they did.
They used lube
@Char Aznable If you’re trying to emphasize a word, you can use surrounding asterisks to bold them.
*like this*
No, I read this as well, over a decade ago when this sword saw some popularity on the internet news circuit. It was reportedly hermetically sealed in a scabbard that was absolutely flush with the breadth of the blade, as well as creating a vapor-locked seal with an oil. It was even found near flooding in an environment with very high humidity, adding to the immensity of what is said about the craftsmanship of the sword as well as the scabbard and its mating parts. One of the beautiful works of human hands.
it is quite a disappointment that this video doesnt at all cover the facts of its discovery which are almost as fascinating as the blade itself. You only need to do a cursory search to see what we are saying is true.
Yeah black laquer
中文不錯喔 :D
Like your vids BTW
This blade is simply gorgeous.
LOVE this video...keep up the great work and I'll definitely be back for more! subbed!
What a fantastic video!
I too am enthralled by this sword.
i saw this sword by my own eyes in Wuhan city. Just amazing
great video
Thank you for an absolutely awesome video!
wow, man, this video is one of your finests, thank you
I remember seeing this sword, when visiting Xi an, I think. Or just out side, when I went to see the Terrace art. It was on a side display over looking a large quantity of warriors standing in a line. All of it was pretty amazing, I remember seeing the sword and being taken back.
Gou Jian (勾践)[520 B.C.~465 B.C.]，the king of the vassal state Yue ，the offspring of Yu the Great（大禹），he is the last great king during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Wow! This is a blade from stories of legends like the Excalibur. Nice topic and well made video pod.
Thank you Metatron this was a very entertaining and informative video.
This reminds me of when Boromir touches Narsil in the lord of the rings and its still cuts his finger after 3000 years
Very interesting history. Thank you.
I would’ve liked to have heard more about the forging process. It’s interesting to have that many distinct alloys in one blade. How are these welded together? What is the Manufacturing process?
As a Mandarin speaker, your pronunciation is excellent!
An awesome Video with much historical information I really enjoyed this one!
Hey Metatron! What happened to the Yokai series? It was so awesome
Don’t ever judge Made in China products again
oof
Nowadays you can get pretty much anything manufactured in china at any level of complexity and quality. Those factories crank out cheap garbage, and we'll made sophisticated equipment. It's all about what you're willing to pay. Most people buy cheap stuff, so we think china makes cheap stuff. I mean they definitely do, but they are capable of making good stuff.
Lol show me the money and I show you the quality. :p
Chi-comm made still sucks.
Ancient China 🐉>>>>> modern china🐛
Excellent video, very informative.
And done in a way I didn't want to stop watching.
Ty for this video on a lovely bit of history
Not only his sword but Goujian himself looks badass af
Wow, that is one incredible sword both terms of beauty and history and preservation. I can't imagine the sensation of holding such a relic in your hands or wielding it
Caeric could it have been a power sword?
Hah, I wish, but I doubt they'd have made them out of bronze. And if we're talkign 40k I'd rather have a chainsword *drool*
I just wanted to say:
THE EMPEROR PROTECTS
Caeric I figured this sword was a cheap wall hanger compared. Chain swords are cook but what about a chain fist?
it depends, if you held it by the blade, it might feel like "ouch!", followed by you dropping said sword quickly after...
It amazes how so many metallurgical knowledge has been lost to the ages, like how the Greeks hardened their copper chisels they used to make their magnificent stone architecture
Your guoyu is excellent. This was most enlightening. Thank you for sharing knowledge of such a masterpiece and some of its history.
What an incredible specimen from the same approximate time period as the lifetime of Sun Tzu, one of history's most incredible generals.
John Ratko sun tze served the country wu and made it the most powerful state at that time. but wu is destroyed by this sword owner...
hahaha true
depend self
As shown by countless military blunders, one may have one, or more, brilliant generals in your army, but even the best miltary minds can make mistakes and/or errors of judgement; perhaps, just perhaps, after the after the over-run of Wu, Sun-Tzu went into self-exile, where he wrote the Art of War, as a means of reflecting on the mistakes he had made ...
@@nigelft As Will Rogers said, 'Good judgment comes from experience. And a lot of that comes from bad judgment.'
What an amazing piece of history.
This is probably my favourite CZcams video. I am part Japanese, so I naturally favour the samurai, but I prefer this video over the samurai videos as I learnt allot more. This video is a real eye opening one.
Another excellent video thank you again my brother.
Metatron, I'm learning Japanese, and you speak both Japanese and Chinese very well. I was hoping you could do a video on Kun yomi, and on yomi. I'm having a hard time with it, and you explain things really well.
There's no surefire way of distinguishing kunyomi from onyomi other than actually having near-native proficiency in either Chinese or Japanese. i speak both Chinese & Japanese myself, & sorry to say, that's the only way to it.
A note: China have recorded history up to 5000 years and requires comparatively less extrapolation and educated guessing when patterning out individual kings and their deeds. So it is possible to make such reference to directly connect a name found on artifacts to a person from the same period.
dude chinese history is old and profound but 5000.... first wrote data is from the early first millenium bc so... ~3000 years of writing and less of recorded history (its a lot by itself). If u dont belive me search it.
Not really it’s only 4000 years old
@@ChromeMan04 well that's as a recognisable organised state if you count the Xia Dynasty circa 2,200 BCE, but if we extend that out to their ethnogenesis in the yellow river basin it does reach as far back as 5,000 years ago.
@@ChromeMan04 一个外国人来告诉中国人：不，你们只有4000年历史。你是搞笑吗？
Thank you, a truly spellbinding presentation!
It always brings me a sense of comfort hearing mandarin spoken properly and you do it with excellence. 👏
Remarkable！This is a very detailed profile of Gou Jian Sword.
As you (may) know, Wuhan is the capital city of Hubei Province, where the Hubei Provincial Museum is located, where the sword is currently in. When I was in Wuhan, I went to the museum and saw the sword myself. It was absolutely amazing masterpiece.
However, the sword itself, it did get rusted and lose some of its original shining color. They now have a perfect duplicate of the sword in the exhibition, which is made by modern craftsmen with the exact same material, bronze and tin. The duplicate looks even more shiny than the artifact, and that's the exact the same way of what it looked like 2500 years ago.
Shiny is the only word to explain the sword itself.
Legend has it it gives +10 to both crit damage and stamina
Fascinating! And absolutely astounding to find it in that condition. Great video.
Thank you for an informational coverage of this sword and of history
"A passions for all sorts of swords" smoth
Oh hell yes! This is what I've been waiting for. Do more Chinese weapons videos.
Excellent video, so happy I found your site, I love swords also. Thank you.
Love the videos my friend. Interesting content! Subscribed.
I remember when this went up for auction. I specifically enjoy collecting antique asian swords but this went outside of our sphere. It’s an astonishingly well kept sword… suspiciously
So this is the blade that inspired Blizzard's design of the dragonblade for Genji's Baihu skin. A beauty to say the least.
Good work and thank you for making such a detailed video. Not particularly a sword guy but this was fascinating! I have no idea how they folded that metal to get that pattern.
Thanks for this great presentation!…Cheers!
It is also highly likely that the underground water didn't have much dissolved oxygen, coupled with the tomb having low oxygen levels before being unearthed(plants and other oxygen making organisms don't exactly like dark places). It could be one of the many factors that contributed to its remarkable preservation.
Must be a epic/rare/legendary drop!
that is one nice sword, and you do a great job of talking about its history.
The big question is - How was it made?
It doesn't appear to be made from a single pour into a mold because of variations of metallic composition of different particular parts of the blade